The EU4Business ‘Support to SME Development in Armenia’ (SMEDA) project, in cooperation with the Enterprise Incubator Foundation, has launched the second cycle of its grant competition under the ‘EU4Business Science and Technology Entrepreneurship (EU4Business STEP) programme – Business Development Support for innovative technology Start-ups’. The deadline for applications is October 1.
The grant scheme is designed for start-up companies with technology and science-based ideas in Engineering (including IoT, IIoT), CleanTech, Biotech, and Advanced ICT (e.g. Artificial Inteligence, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Big Data).
The grant is linked to a mentorship support scheme.
The EU4Business STEP programme aims at sparking entrepreneurship and advancing innovative technology-based ideas to the market. The overall objective of the programme is to help start-up teams, innovators, scientists, engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs to move their ideas and products to the market, create new ventures, and promote innovation and entrepreneurship in Armenia.
Competition is open to young companies registered for no more than 3 years at the time of starting the grant project. Companies registered more than 3 yearshave the possibility to spin-off a team with its new product or service idea and develop the project in its newly registered company.
Activities covered by the grant are:
- Technology development & demonstration
- Prototype Development
- Pilot Application
- Market Testing
- Business Development
Grant amount & co-financing requirements
- Grant amount per initiative is between €6,000 and €15,000 EUR and will be provided over a project duration of 6 months. The final grant amount will be agreed during the selection process and is mainly determined by the experience of the individuals in the planed project team.
- The company should provide co-financing of 15%.
The deadline for applications is October 1, 2018, 23:59 Yerevan Time.
The EU4Business SMEDA project supports the improvement of the business and investment climate for SMEs in Armenia. It aims to strengthen the private sector, support SME coordination mechanisms, and foster links between research institutions and the private sector, as well as providing access to finance for SMEs. The project is co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ’s Private Sector Development in the South Caucasus Programme.
